While some farms are moving away from quad bikes, GPS technology can improve safety. Photos: Mark Tadic/AAP
Accidents on quad bikes are a major cause of death and injury on Australian farms, but GPS technology is helping change bad habits and reduce harm.
An 82-year-old man was killed when a quad bike rolled down a levee bank on a remote NSW property.
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The next day, a teenage girl and a woman in her 70s were flown to hospital after two separate quad bike crashes on farms in northern NSW.
The same week, a coroner called for tougher safety laws after the 2023 death of a 14-year-old girl who died when she lost control of a quad bike on a property in Tasmania.
Days after those warnings, a young girl was flown to hospital after falling off a quad bike and getting crushed under its wheels on a farm in Queensland.
A fortnight later, an 83-year-old man died after a quad bike crash in Lilydale, Tasmania.
Soon after, a teenage boy suffered head, arm and pelvis injuries in a crash on a Queensland farm and a woman was flown to hospital after an accident in Western Australia.
Each of those incidents made headlines in just 27 days last October.
Quad bike accidents are a leading cause of fatalities and injuries on farms, with 210 deaths since 2011, including a spike in 2024, according to Safe Work Australia data.
Quad bike accidents are a leading cause of fatalities and injuries, particularly on farms.
Concerns about the vehicles, which are known to tip or roll at speed or on difficult terrain, have prompted many corporate farms to introduce technology to monitor riders and change their behaviour.
Specialised GPS devices, developed in a partnership between technology companies iTRAK and Digital Matter, are being used on about 150 properties in Australia and New Zealand.
The gadgets give farm managers data on their workers' riding speed and allow them to map out slow speed areas and no-go zones.
A recent analysis by the companies has shown the average farm has gone from 187 unsafe riding incidents per month to fewer than 10.
Knowledge and data was crucial on busy farms, where vehicle user manuals may go unread, iTRAK managing director Stewart McConachy said.
“You can throw a book at a farmer, but nine times out of 10 it makes a great paper weight,” Stewart said.
“What you’ve got to do is ... change the behavioural habits of people.”
Aurora Dairies was an early adopter of the technology, winning a WorkSafe Victoria award in 2021.
The company was moved to act after three non-fatal accidents in one year.
“It’s pretty clear speed and terrain are the leading cause of incidents, so this technology was able to reduce those risks,” Aurora’s chief executive Ben James said at the time.
Since late 2021, consumer laws have dictated that all quad bikes be fitted with a device that prevents crush injuries by holding the vehicle off the ground in the event of a rollover.
National safety guidelines say children under 16 should not ride adult-sized quad bikes, although it is not a legal requirement in all jurisdictions.
Stewart said many corporate farms were moving away from quad bikes due to the dangers.
But GPS technology could be used on all vehicles to improve safety, he said.
“Farmers need to be forced to make change, they need to be lead to the trough,” he said.
